Summit League Championship’s Fan Guide: Denver’s Ready to Take Control

• Dates: Wednesday February 19th – Saturday February 22nd;
• Location: IUPUI Natatorium –  Indianapolis, Indiana (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Oakland (2013 Results)
• Live Results: Meet Mobile and Live Results
• Live Video (If available): Not Available
  
• Summit League Championship Central

The Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships return back to the historic IUPUI Natatorium after two years at Oakland University. There has been a lot of shuffling within the conference over the last two years. Last year, the women’s team from the University of Nebraska – Omaha, joined the conference, finishing third at last year’s Summit League Championships. Oakland University, the dominant force in the Summit League for more than a decade, left the conference to join the Horizon League. Oakland controlled the conference on both the men’s and women’s side, winning all but a few swimming events last year. The Summit League is welcoming the University of Denver into the conference this season. Denver will quickly fill Oakland’s shoes as the powerhouse team of the conference.

Oakland won almost every event last season, which opens up the podium this season to fresh faces. Denver will be the favorite to win the meet on the men’s and women’s side, but we can expect much more depth from this meet this season from the whole conference. Every team will be tapered and rested for this meet rather than NCAA’s, but that may be changing within the next five years at the rate at which the conference is improving as a whole.

On the women’s side, the Denver women should be the top team, but we can expect a lot of fast swims from teams like Omaha, South Dakota State, and IUPUI. They will have individuals that can challenge Denver for some of the top podium spots, and will be able to challenge them on specific relays. There will be a very close race for second place in the team standings.

Stars

Denver – Sam Corea (Backstroke/Butterfly), Bridgette McNally (500/IM), Amanda Sanders (Breaststroke), Johanna Roas (Sprint Freestyle), Drew Matthews (Butterfly/Freestyle), Dana Gau (Diving)

Eastern Illinois – Kate Paige (Butterfly), Olga Livshits (Backstroke/IM)

IUPUI – Lexi Laird (Backstroke), Jenny Oleksiak (Breaststroke/IM), Margret Barber (Freestyle), Natalie Trout (Freestyle/IM)

Omaha – Natalie Renshaw (Freestyle/Backstroke), Maddie Hutt (Breaststroke), Morgan Stepp (IM)

South Dakota – Greysen Hertting (Diving), Linay McCrady (Distance Freestyle/IM), Samantha Schuttinger (Freestyle)

South Dakota St – Andrea Budahl (Fly/Distance Freestyle), Emily Campbell (Breaststroke/IM), Olivia Olesiak (Diving)

Western Illinois – Julia Rassmussen (Diving/Freestyle), Megan Popp (Distance Freestyle)

Showdowns

200 Freestyle – Natalie Renshaw will be fending of a big group of freestylers from Denver for the top spot in this event. We should see a big group under the 1:50 barrier or right at it.

100 Backstroke – Led by Denver’s Sam Corea, three swimmers have the NCAA B cut time and will be fighting to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships in March. The other two to watch are Denver’s Johanna Roas and IUPUI’s Lexi Laird.

200 Breaststroke – This event opened up this year and is now much deeper than it was the previous year. Last year’s Summit League Champion, Jenny Oleksiak, is seeded 9th, but we can expect to see her in the hunt. Denver’s Amanda Sanders has the top time in the conference this year, and should be very competitive.

Stars

Denver – Dylan Bunch (Distance Freestyle), Kyle Milberg (Butterfly/Backstroke), Jeremiah Zgliczynski (Distance Freestlye/IM), Andrew Torres (Butterfly)

Eastern Illinois – Colin McGill (Freestyle/Backstroke), Harris Thompson (Distance Freestyle)

IUPUI – Tony Carroll (Freestyle/Backstroke), Adam Ferguson (Breaststroke), Cody Watts (Diving)

South Dakota – Colin Krysl (Butterfly), Jacob Knowles (Breaststroke), Ian Ford (Backstroke), Dustin Gens (Diving)

South Dakota State – Wil Hogue (Freestyle), Matt Carpenter (Distance Freestyle), Connor Florand  Clark Kocourek (Diving)

Western Illinois – Chris Neaveill (Butterfly),  Doug Ogilvie

Showdowns

50 Freestyle – This event is one of the most diverse events of the meet. With top swimmers from several of the leagues teams, it will be an event that will have fans from every team on their feet. The two favorites are Kyle Robrock and Wil Hogue, but don’t count out the rest of the field. The top 16 swimmers are all within a second of Robrock.

100 Butterfly – This is another very competitive event. Kyle Milberg has the top seed at 47.95. The top 8 is very tight, with swimmers from Denver, Western Illinois, and IUPUI. The top 8 should all be under 50 seconds, which will be great to see from the Summit League.

100 Freestyle – Just like the 50 freestyle, the Summit League sprinters are all bunched up. Again, Robrock has the top seed, but watch out for Eastern Illinois Sprinter Colin McGill, and then the duo from IUPUI, Tony Carroll and Lennart Kuester. This event on the last day of competition is always up for grabs. It could be anyones race, depending on how the teams deal with the fatigue.

Standings